Remembering Tickle Me Pink's Johnny Schou one year later.

A year ago today, Johnny Schou died tragically at the young age of 22. Hard to believe that it's already been a year since the talented Tickle Me Pink bassist passed away. Schou, as you might remember, in a cruel twist of fate, died the morning that his band released Madeline, its Wind-up Records debut. His surviving bandmates somehow summoned to courage to soldier on after his death, drafting former Brotherhood of Dae Han guitarist Joey Barba to join the fold. The quartet, which just played a show this past Saturday at the Gothic (review forthcoming -- we just freed BA Frederick's write up from the clutches of over eager spam filter), memorialized the anniversary of his passing earlier today with a short, heartfelt note penned by drummer Stefan Runstrom posted on their website. Read the band's thoughts after the jump and then feel free to weigh in with some of your own.

7/1/2009 - Remembering Johnny Schou

This weekend's sold out Gothic show marked a milestone for this band...

To say we've had a tumultuous past year would be an understatement, and for us to be able to debut new songs, release an Acoustic EP after months of touring, proves that life does indeed go on.

One year ago today, our best friend and band mate, Johnny Schou passed away. Sadly, it was the same day our record "Madeline" was released nationwide. At the time, continuing on with him absent seemed an insurmountable task. Luckily, we had another equally amazing musician willing to lend a helping hand...

With Johnny out of the picture for the duration of what was probably our busiest year as a band, it was always important to me to try and consciously think of him as much as possible. I wanted to remind myself of his incredible songwriting ability, signature guitar riffs, engineering capabilities that rivaled just about anyone his age and his uncanny knack for correct grammar usage. Not to mention the fact that he beat us to the punch of getting a gold record...

For those of you who were lucky enough to know him, I hope you will continue to remember him as fondly as I do. It's been a very wild year for this band and I am certain Johnny would've loved to be here with us. However, the unfortunate fact remains that he is gone...

The time we spent with him was invaluable and unforgettable. We couldn't have come this far without his everlasting impact on our music and his overall frame of mind that continually keeps us grounded.

And today, on his one-year remembrance, I still struggle with words to describe Johnny. Perhaps he best remains indescribable.